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Friday, November 10, 2017

SMRT and LTA needs to create a conducive work culture with regular dialogue sessions; feedback mechanism in place: A proposal to Transport Minister Khaw Bon Wan

It is timely that the SMRT group’s chief executive
Desmond Kuek has encouraged his staff to learn from the flooding incident and
the breakdowns so that they can come out stronger and better (Desmond Kuek
urges SMRT staff to come out 'better and stronger' after 'collective shame'
from tunnel flooding incident”; November 9, 2017, TODAY Newspaper).

Enlightened leaders today make it a point to engage
in a way that resembles an ordinary person-to-person conversation. By speaking
with employees, rather than just issuing orders, top management can obtain
feedback to make improvements to the rail system where staff can propose useful
suggestions.

To this end, I propose that the management of SMRT
and the LTA organises monthly breakfast sessions with their employees where a
free flow of ideas can come naturally. Such dialogue sessions in a friendly
setting will also help to improve relations with top management and fellow
colleagues. As friends we tend to be more giving and we would want to help one
another. That’s the culture that ought to be created.

Team work is vital for productivity. Another way to
help resolve issues the SMRT and the LTA is facing is to encourage their staff
to actively participate in the staff suggestion scheme where employees from
different departments can team up to identify problems and then propose useful
suggestions where some rewards can be given.

Such communication tools will shift the focus from
a top-down distribution of directions and information to a more comfortable
bottom-up exchange of ideas. At the end of the day, open communication can
manifest in various ways – gaining trust, listening well, being receptive to
good ideas and providing a more personalised culture.